Recruitment is a competitive and growing industry. Each month sees the launch of another online job vacancy portal or a large budget above the line advertising campaign. Both employers and candidates now have a range of opportunities in how jobs are offered and how they can be applied for.

When setting up a recruitment agency and looking to launch the online element of your service, one of the most important aspects to get right first time is the recruitment software package you choose. There are a number of options available so it’s about considering your company needs and also finding a provider you feel you can develop a long working relationship with.

HR departments are busier than ever and their role has expanded over the years. Not only are they responsible for the organising of recruitment, there are also the many staff related policies and procedures to create and update, employment law to be knowledgeable of, the range of staff support networks to provide, dealing directly or indirectly with disciplinary issues, the keeping of detailed files of all employees and – depending on the company – perhaps even internal communications and payroll.

I lost my virginity back in 2004 (to recruitment software that is) when a £37m agency asked me to build them a recruitment system. My first question was: "Isn't there anything already on the market that meets your needs?" and then to check Google, like everyone does I guess. There were loads of recruitment software systems on the market - and I mean LOADS. There must have been in the region of 50 or 60 systems at least.

One of the top challenges facing a recruitment professional in today's competitive market is how to negotiate against price and discount pressure to retain the right margin. When recruiters concede in these situations they not only reduce the profitability of the placement, but also devalue the customer perceptions of the Product (ie. the Candidate) and Service provided (ie. you).

Over 90% of all recruitment is still performed in the office at a laptop or PC. Don't get me wrong, the internet is a fantastic revolution since it was invented in 1959 for military use, then commercially introduced in 1994. Prior to starting Darwin I myself spent over 10 years building web-based applications for Clients, and the majority of the end users still used them from the office! But to perform their role effectively recruiters need to be on the phone, looking at details on screen/paper, and making notes ALL AT THE SAME TIME. This is pretty difficult from a drive-thru MacDonalds with one hand on the wheel, and the other juggling a burger and an iPad!

Darwin is a Windows application that keeps your data stored in the cloud for easy access from anywhere you have an internet connection. The recruitment system only requires you to have 499kb of free space on your computer and at least 2gb of RAM for our 1-Click installation .NET client.